My husband and I have been on a Keto Weight Loss journey since August 31. We have lost a combined 132 pounds. I lost 50 and he lost 82. I think that this way of eating has been successful for us because we are never hungry and get to enjoy delicious foods. A ketogenic (keto) diet is where you eat 20g or less of carbs, a low/moderate amount of protein and a high amount of fat. Your percentages of food should be 5% Carbs, 20% Protein and 75% Fat.

Since I have been making so many different recipes I have acquired a great keto pantry (and fridge).

Alternative Sweetener:

Erythritol - I use this whenever I am baking or when a recipe calls for a granulated sweetener.

Liquid Stevia - I use about 5 drops in my coffee every morning.

Ez-Sweetz - Liquid Sucralose. I use this in all of my recipes that don't call for a granular sweetener. This is what my husband uses in his coffee. It takes a couple of drops to sweeten without an aftertaste.

Almond Flour: This is the flour I use in almost all of my baking and biscuit recipes. I use it to make pizza crusts using the fat-head recipe and as breading for things like my chicken tenders.

Oat Fiber: Since it is made up of fiber the carbs cancel out. I don't usually count net carbs (carbs - fiber) but for the oat fiber I do. This powder makes things taste like they have wheat in them so it's good for dessert crusts and biscuits.

Cream Cheese: You will use a lot of cream cheese if you are making keto recipes. I use cream cheese to make my favorite oopsie rolls, to make fat head pizza, to make cream cheese pancakes and so much more. I buy the Aldi brand because it currently has 1g of carbs per serving.

Pork Rinds: They are really good to snack on and to eat with dips. They can also be pulverized into dust to substitute for any kind of breading. I have also used them to make keto puppy chow.

Coconut Oil: It's the holy grail in a keto kitchen. I put it in my coffee to make bulletproof coffee. I also use it to make fat bombs. It's the perfect way to get your fat in on a keto diet.

Avocado Oil: I use this oil to fry, for cooking and in my keto coleslaw recipe. It's great to use in cooking because of it's high heat point.

** Please note that I am not a doctor or nutritionist. I just wanted to share what has been working for my husband and I. Please seek advice from your doctor first before starting any diet or exercise program.

I lost 3.2 pounds for a total weight loss of 49.2 pounds. I decided to weigh myself today, on my birthday to see if I hit my goal of 50 pounds lost by my birthday. I stepped on the scale and could not believe I lost another 0.8 pounds! I am exactly 50 pounds down, what an amazing birthday present to myself!

I stayed on plan the entire week and did a lot of prep work to make cooking easier. Since it has been cold outside we have been enjoying lots of keto hot cocoa at night. I found a new chocolate mug cake that is so much better than the old. I will be eating it again today for my birthday! Why cheat when you can have something this delicious. On Thursday we stocked up on our keto needs with the impending blizzard on Friday-Saturday. While everyone was running around looking for bread and milk I was happy getting my butter, heavy cream and bacon. My husband got a snow day from work on Saturday so he helped me make batches of oopsie rolls and cauliflower mash to have for the week. This weekend I had some Bullet Proof Coffee for breakfast to give me a boost in energy.

I continued with the FeFit exercise program. Since I am on week three the workouts are getting harder. I am so excited and surprised that I can actually keep up. I am now able to do modified push ups! On Wednesday we did an amazing upper body workout and I love how it worked every single muscle in just 30 minutes. I was having some soreness in my back so I am happy that by doing the 4 day a week program and I can move my exercise days around to be able to rest my back when I need to. I feel so much stronger and am able to carry and walk around with my three year old! We went out to play in the snow on Sunday. She got upset when her hands got too cold so I was able to scoop her up and carry her a whole block in the snow.

I love chicken fingers because they are crispy and delicious and you can dip them into any kind of sauce. I used a combination of almond flour and parmesan cheese so that I could cut the carbs of the almond flour. I then used the method of flash frying and then finishing the cooking in the oven.

1: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a baking pan with aluminum foil. Add a baking rack on top. (If you don't have a baking rack you can skip it but you will have to turn your tenders over half way through the baking process. Using a rack makes the tenders crunchy and flaky all around.)

3: Mix together the almond flour, parmesan cheese and seasonings into a medium bowl. In a small bowl whip your egg.

4: Dip the chicken tenders into the egg and then into the breading. You want to lightly coat the chicken tenders and shake all of the excess breading off. Repeat with each chicken tender.

5: Heat your oil on high heat. Fry each chicken tender on both sides until they are golden brown. You want to do this quickly because the tenders will continue to cook in the oven.

6: Place the browned tenders on top of the baking rack and place in the oven. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the tenders are cooked through. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce like this low carb barbecue sauce!

As the weather gets colder we go outdoors less and less. We had a really cold week a couple of weeks ago so our walks went out the door. I don't want my daughter to be on her iPad or watch TV all day so I try to come up with fun ways for her to use her hands and get creative. It's been cold but not cold enough for snow yet and my daughter has been anxious for the first snowfall to come. To get her excited about the snow that should be coming soon I created this DIY Kids Snow Globe Artwork.

Step 1: Print out the Winter Scene printable on cardstock. Using cardstock makes it easier when you want to shake the confetti inside of the "snow globe". Instead of printing out the winter scene you can have the older kids just draw a scene and color it themselves.

Step 2: Cut out the snowman pieces yourself or have your child cut them out. Give the pieces to the child with the glue and have them create the snowman on top of the winter scene. You can also add different colors and accessories to customize your own snowman.

Step 3: Carefully place the snowman art piece into the ziplock bag. (Optional: You can place glue behind the artwork and then place into ziplock back and press to glue the back to the bag. This way the confetti and glitter stays put in front.) Sprinkle in the confetti and glitter into the bottom of the ziplock bag. Close the ziplock bag and then fold over to the back and tape down.

Step 4: Show the child how to shake the bag and make the "snow" fall over the snowman.

When I started eating keto I looked at alot of YouTube videos to get ideas on what to eat. Before the videos I thought I would get tired of eating bacon and eggs so I sought out different foods and recipes that I could eat. I get to eat pizza, bbq chicken wings, chocolate mug cake, keto puppy chow and so much more. Since I can find an alternative to anything I feel like eating, there has been no reason for me to cheat. Twenty weeks into my journey and I am proud to say I have not had one cheat day or even a cheat piece of food.

I am going to start doing a "What I Ate Wednesday" series at least twice a month to give other keto'ers some ideas on what to eat and what to snack on. I will also try to do a video to go along with the blog post.

Breakfast: I had cream cheese pancakes with pork sausage and sugar-free syrup. I love making these cream cheese pancakes because they are super easy to make and satisfies that craving for real pancakes. They are flat and don't have the texture of real pancakes but they are delicious. I also had some coffee with heavy whipping cream, stevia drops, and sugar-free amaretto syrup.

Lunch: I wasn't really hungry during lunch time so I didn't have the tuna salad lettuce wraps I planned to have. A couple of hours before dinner time I was a little hungry so I had some Boar's Head Hard Salami and Lacy Swiss Cheese. I also had half a serving of pecans.

Dinner: Barbecue chicken thighs with creamy cauliflower mash. I like to brown the chicken thighs in some avocado oil and then I put it in the oven until it is almost cooked through. The last 10 minutes I brush on some barbecue sauce and then bake for 10 minutes.

I had a really good eating week and stayed on plan the entire week. I was craving salads again so it was basically my go-to side. Just a simple salad of romaine lettuce, cucumbers and a tablespoon of sliced red onion did it for me. I love saving my carbs for delicious salads like this. I made Fat Head Pizza and finally perfected the baking time. The crust was so golden and crispy that it kind of tasted better than regular pizza (that is saying a lot being that I am a New Yorker!) I was craving a casserole type of dish so I made a Keto Chicken Pot Pie that I wasn't too fond of. Though I didn't like it too much it did get me thinking about how I could tweak it and use the fat head pizza crust as the topping. Recipe for a keto chicken pot pie coming soon!

I did really well with the exercising and stayed on plan with the FéFit Exercise Program. On Wednesday I was supposed to take a walk as part of the program but it was too cold and I didn't want to take my daughter out. Instead I did a Leslie Sansone Walking Workout on YouTube. It was so much fun and it reminded me about how much I used to love doing her exercise DVDs. On Thursday I really didn't feel like doing exercise but then I looked up at my command center and saw my motivational poster. "The Only Workout You'll Regret is the One You Didn't Do!" That really motivated me to get my workout clothes on and get to work. On Friday we took my daughter to the arcade and movies so I didn't get to do exercise. I made it up on Saturday and the Total Body Toning 2 really kicked my tush!

I have been compensated by Glucerna for this post; however, I am sharing my own thoughts. All opinions are my own. #SteadyIsExciting

Coming from a Latin background I knew that the chances of me getting diagnosed with diabetes was high. I grew up with family members getting diabetes one after the other. First it was both of my grandmothers being diagnosed within months of each other. Then it was my dad being diagnosed and then my sister when she was just 22 years old.

This past summer my husband got the news that he was pre-diabetic. I didn't want another one of my loved ones to become diabetic so it was finally time to do something about it. On August 31st we started our journey of eating a low carb diet and have since lost a combined total of 122 pounds. Last month my husband went back to the doctor to get lab work and we got the news that he was no longer pre-diabetic! It is really amazing how just doing little changes to your diet could reverse something as serious as diabetes.

Now that my husband and I are committed to this way of eating we are working hard to bring our other family members on board. I want to show them that it is easy to change what they eat by substituting little things. One of my favorite family recipes is fried barbecue chicken. Now instead of frying it we are grilling it and instead of slathering it with our favorite barbecue sauce we are just using a little.

While browsing my local Target I took a look through the diabetic aisle. I was pleased to see all of the products Glucerna offered. They had some delicious looking shakes in a variety of flavors. As I was reading the label I saw that they contained CARBSTEADY® which helps lessen blood sugar spikes by allowing the body to slowly digest the carbohydrates. On top of Glucerna being the #1 Doctor recommended brand for people with diabetes, Target was also having a cartwheel of 10% off of their bars and shakes. (Live Jan 10th – 30th)

I decided to make the barbecue chicken and bring my grandma a 6pk of the Glucerna Vanilla Shakes. To make the barbecue chicken I took 3 ounces of boneless skinless chicken and grilled it on my indoor grill. I cooked it for about 5 minutes per side. Then I brushed on 2 teaspoons of my favorite low carb barbecue sauce on top and allowed it to cook for about 30 seconds longer. I packed it up and brought it for my grandmother to enjoy.

About Me

I am a first time mom of a little girl. During the journey of having my baby I gained baby weight and then some. Join me on my journey as I try to lose the weight while juggling the craziness of being a first time mom.